How To Land The Best Truck Driving Jobs

Bud,

I must admit, you're a fairly witty guy, but you're being a bit misleading. If you want to talk about sample sizes and getting information from the internet, Old School is also on the internet, and a sample size of: 1.

Those 474 reviews on swift on glassdoor? Much larger sample size. Would I base my decisions solely on glassdoor? No way, but I'd sure use it before just listening to one person on a forum that seems to have an agenda.

No, no, no, I'm not trying to be witty. I'm afraid you've missed my point entirely. See, I'm agreeing with you, 100%!!!

And you're also correct in pointing out that Old School is also on the Internet, and is a sample size of just 1!! There's absolutely no way he knows what the hell he's talking about!! Sure, he claims that he's been driving for a living for a few years, and even posts these fake pictures of flatbed loads that he's supposedly been hauling (he probably stole them from the one true trucking website©), and that he used to own a business and all of this other nonsense that makes people believe he knows what he's talking about, but in reality Old School is one of the leading members of the Cult of Brett® (N.B. he's even highlighted as a Moderator to intimidate you into believing him!) so of course he has an agenda! You are absolutely 100% correct!!!

See, Old School posts this kind of stuff so that unsuspecting people wandering about unprotected on the Internet, once they've fallen into this spider web of deceit called "TruckingTruth," might get caught here and stay!! Then, not only does Old School (and the other members of the cult) go to work to convince them of their agenda, they also immediately begin to lay the ground work for the future convert's admission into the Cult of Brett® so they can get them signed up for the weekend workshop that costs hundreds of dollars (which directly profits Old School, by the way!) and begin twisting the hapless individual's arm to make the trip to New York to worship at the Temple of Brett!!!

It's insidious, is what it is!!

They tell you they want to share their experience as actual truck drivers to help newcomers to the trucking industry, when in reality they are just a bunch of neckbeards sitting behind a keyboard in their underwear in their mom's basement spinning a web of deceit to trap gullible people into joining their cult!!!!

Frankly, I'm amazed you figured this all out in just five days!!! It took me 2 years and 9 months to see it, but now I see it too!!

So again, Ryan R., thank you!!! You have literally saved me from the agony I've experienced at the hands of these monsters whose advice helped me get a job in trucking, get established as a good driver, and helped me to successfully transition to a new company that better fit my needs!!! What the hell was I thinking!?!?!? I had "self-serving bias" all along and was deceived by these evil, twisted cult members into thinking that the steady pay increases and job satisfaction were really, actually REAL!!!

It gives me goosebumps when I think about it. Imagine, I could have had a job paying six figures like this one guy I heard about who hit a stop sign while working for pennies at Swift but then went and got himself a job at a company that hauls food of some sort and whose name starts with the letter "M"!!!!

Well, my eyes are opened, thanks to you, Ryan R.!!! Trust me, I'm going to spend the rest of tonight and the entire weekend looking for this company that starts with M, because fortunately I am looking for work again after having surgery and spending the last four months recovering physically so now I have an opportunity to wash away all that nonsense that these cult members have been force-feeding me for two years and nine months and get myself a real job that pays six figures, instead of the paltry $70,000 I was previously earning due to the erroneous and self-serving advice that Old School and Brett and all the others here have been peddling!!!!

And on behalf of all the others you have saved from certain ruin, I again say, thank you!!

Bud, I’m sure you have some new long reply you’re slowly typing, that you hope will enrage me, and bring about admiration and respect from your peers, but I’m currently bored of waiting on it.

Anyway, an interest of mine used to be writing predictive algorithms, where I trained predictive models on data like reviews of movies, and used that predict future behavior. I was very good at it. Throwing around a few pseudo-scientific terms isn’t going to give you an edge on me to anyone that has a clue. Perhaps you’ll amuse your peers with it.

Old School,

I wasn't trying to divert your thread this much.

Dang, I spend all this time slowly typing an honest and frankly flattering response to you, with no thought whatsoever of trying to enrage you, and this is all I get. But then, what was I thinking, throwing around pseudo-scientific terms like "experience" and "reality" and "a company that starts with M" when it is all for naught in light of your predictive algorithms. You, sir, not only were good at it, you absolutely 100% are good at it!! Heck, you even accurately predicted that I was slowly typing a witty response to you in order to enrage you and bring about admiration and respect from my peers . . . though I must say that the accurate part only applies to my slow typing, and not to my intentions.

Why on earth would I want to enrage the person who opened my eyes to the deception that I had been trapped by? And why on earth would I want to win respect and admiration from a bunch of cult members who pretend to know more than you, the Writer of Predictive Algorithms? Heaven forfend!! (Also, they actually don't like me much, since I don't always agree with them, especially when it comes to interpreting the motives and legalities involved in videotapes of truck / car accidents, and also since I'm a tremendous pain in the ass, and not very nice sometimes, according to them.) (Thankfully, they still let me attend the weekend workshops, which cost several hundred dollars each time.) (But that is something I shouldn't be thankful for, I realize now. Thank you again.)

But now it is time for me to go back to searching for that six figure job, and finding just the right stop sign to run over in order to make myself more attractive to them so they'll hire me and so that I can stop slowly typing and start driving, just like you!! (Except you're not yet, but we know that doesn't mean anything, since you are very good at writing predictive algorithms!!)

Ryan, it does beg the question - what exactly do you think these companies are going to do to you, anyway?

See, we've been successful in this industry for a very long time, and like many people who have accomplished a high level of success, we enjoy helping others understand how we've done it. Kinda makes sense, right? You reach a high level, you enjoy what you do, so you're now able to help others get there easier than you did and that's a lot of fun.

We learned many, many, many hard lessons over the years and now we're presented with the opportunity to help others learn these same lessons the easy way instead, so they won't have to endure the hardships we brought upon ourselves not knowing any better at the time. That's why we enjoy mentoring others.

Well as we all know, anyone can argue with everything that everyone says. It takes no experience, no intelligence, no facts to back it up, or no abilities of your own to simply say what you've been saying to us:

"You're lying. You're wrong. You have an agenda. I don't believe you."

Ok, that's easy and that's all you've been doing to us from day one.

So why don't we approach this from the opposite angle, then. You're obviously super paranoid that you're going to get into this industry and everyone is going to take advantage of you. But I can't recall any specifics you've ever mentioned that you're concerned about.

So that's why I ask - what exactly do you think these companies are going to do to you, anyway? Can you give me a hypothetical scenario where a company is able to turn a profit and find a high level of success by abusing their drivers?

P.S. Old School, I am not sorry for diverting your thread, since you are an evil cult member who is trying to brainwash people into thinking that they will have to earn respect in this industry through hard work and diligence. That's f'ing ridiculous!! And the idea that people are accountable and need to take responsibility for their actions?? Psssh!

It's all about finding out which companies are good to work for and which companies to avoid! And that can be accomplished by reading reviews on Glassdoor!!!

Also, I want my hundreds of dollars back from you and G-Town and Errol for those silly weekend workshops that I went to. And no, I'm no longer planning to go to worship at the Temple of Brett. I'm about to get a six-figure job with a company that starts with M, so I don't need you guys no more. Stick that in your predictive algorithm and smoke it.

Brett,

It's as simple as working them as hard as they possibly can, while paying them as little as they possibly can. It doesn't require any great speculations beyond that. I know my trainers at my trucking school warned us not to let a company push you over hours because some will gladly do it. That's one specific way. I'm sure the companies that do it claim to have policies that thwart such things, but that's what I've seen big business do time and time again. I've been in so many safety meetings where a manager spoke against things he actually pushed in actual production it makes me sick. It also makes me sick that most people don't even realize it.

Ryan, you keep acting like the victim you will always be the victim. Do you know how many industries treat their employees the exact same way? ALL of them.

Are you going to be one of those guys that whine about not getting paid to fuel the truck? I have only been driving for about 5 years and I cannot tell you how many free hours I have put in over my life to get a job done. It takes me less that 15 minutes to fuel and leave and that includes going inside to get the receipt and a drink.

I have spent whole life working with the mindset that if I make the company more money they can afford to pay me more. It works. Only twice in my life have I actually had to go out and look for a job. The first one I ever got and again when I left the Telecom industry. Employers come asking me not the other way around.

Pat,

I understand that being paid by the mile means any work I do is being paid for by those miles. The only question is whether that's enough, and if I can make more elsewhere. Prime rejected me, but it's a prime example of a company that stands out. It appears to have good training, a lot of positive reviews, and the average pay is quite a bit above average. You can make a lot more driving for UPS, for example, but luck or dedication to the union is required for that.

Pat,

Anyway, that's not the way the scumbags that float to the top of big business often think. Due to their often sociopathic nature, and their attribution bias (self serving bias being one of them.) They place company success as their doing, and reward themselves. Profit matters, and the more work they can get out of you for the least amount of money is exactly what they have in mind.

I'm not saying there aren't exceptions, and the exceptions are exactly the companies you want to work for.

Here's the thing: there is not now, nor has there ever been or ever will be that magic single company that is the best company for every driver. Every driver has different needs, wants, and priorities. We all have different personalities, different points of view, and different objectives for our lives and our careers. Driver A may think Swift is the best company for him, driver B may prefer Schneider, driver C likes Crete, and so on. And they all have their own very valid reasons.

It's like mushrooms. Some people absolutely adore mushrooms, some people find them utterly repulsive. You're never going to convince either group that the other is right, because it's all a matter of personal opinion.

If you don't like mushrooms, don't eat them. If you don't like Melton, don't drive for them.

There, now wasn't that easy?

Fatsquatch, there is certainly truth to that perspective, but there will still be companies that stand out to any given set of benchmarks.